


Waterfowl and Lepidoptera

by RandomGuygoesviral



Series: Indruck ft. a love of Coolice [3]
Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Awkward Romance, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, M/M, More addition to the Jake Coolice tag, You're Welcome, indruck
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-10
Updated: 2018-12-10
Packaged: 2019-09-15 10:01:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,358
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16931169
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RandomGuygoesviral/pseuds/RandomGuygoesviral
Summary: In which Duck is going to kill Aubrey Little and her two friends.But a talk about abominations with Indrid Cold derails those plans, so maybe later?





	Waterfowl and Lepidoptera

**Author's Note:**

> Your friendly neighborhood author started writing this the day before episode 19 came out, and he had to make some rewrites (not to mention the fact that I finished it the day after I found out my -now ex- boyfriend was cheating on me). Sorry bout that. Welcome to me at long last letting my rural Missourian accent appear in my writing.  
> I really like writing Indrid’s speech pattern by the way. It’s actually not far off from how I talk, say from my accent, and studying speech patterns is something I honestly find fun.

The first thing Duck thought upon being forced into this situation was, _ ’I am going to kill those kids.’  _

 

Who where ‘those kids’? Aubrey Little, Jake Coolice, and Dani… uh he actually wasn’t sure what her last name was. Regardless, those three absolute jerks were the subject of his aggression. It was for a good reason! Duck wasn’t really the aggressive type, he was a pacifist- hell his  _ sword _ was more aggressive than he’d ever been. Those assholes set him up! Set him up for complete and utter embarrassment! 

 

For literally  _ one  _ reason. He just so happened to save on a certain Sylv  _ once  _ and the trio  **refused** to let him hear the end of it. They seemed to think that they had all the power in the world to get him to cooperate with their stupid plan. Duck told himself that he wouldn’t let anyone convince him to act in any schemes after the time Ned almost blew up the Cryptonomicon,  _ his own goddamn shop _ , with one of ‘em. There he was though, leaning against a tree and trying to calm the hell down. 

 

This was a really bad idea, damn it. 

 

It started just like any kids planning something would start things. That being, of course, going up to their victim and putting on their very most innocent faces. Man, they really sucked at looking innocent, too. Aubrey was too jittery, Jake fiddled with his hair every few seconds, and Dani completely refused to look anywhere other than the ground. Duck might not have been the  _ most _ social person out there, but goddamn it he knew how nervous ticks worked. He was the  **_king_ ** of ‘em. 

 

“What do y’all want?” He remembered asking with a sigh.

 

Jitter. Fiddle. Glare.

Aubrey. Jake. Dani.

One. Two. Three. 

 

They were always in perfect tandem with them ticks. What an odd sortta way to know how close three kids were. Still, still. Didn’t excuse the fact that they were gonna ask him somethin’ or other. 

 

“Uh, we were just wondering-”

“There’s like this thing-”

“You both really suck at this… so much for stage presence.” 

“Hey”

“Jerk!”

 

“Y’all.” Duck butted in,” Are you gonna get to the point or should I just go?”

 

“Moth maaaaaan…” Aubrey spoke at last, shifting her position as Jake raked a hand through his hair.

 

Duck would come to regret how he responded to that later. “Look, Aubrey. You know as well as I do that that ain’t his name-” He cut himself out when all three of them perked up in unison. 

 

Regret hit like a brick of ice, instantly.

 

“Oh. Mhm… yeah. Well I wonder why your so worked up about his name  _ Duck,”  _ Aubrey stuck out her tongue slightly. 

 

“If y’all three are gonna ask me somethin’ you best do it…”

 

The fire prone girl was practically vibrating at that point,” Soooo… Indrid Cold, eh?” 

 

_ Dread. _

 

“Aubrey wha-”

 

“You. Like him.” The smirk on her face was so utterly sure that it was unnerving. 

 

And unnerved Duck was. He had  dared to breath the worlds ‘I’m going to go save the mothman’ and that was enough. Because apparently saving Indrid’s damn life meant that he had a crush on the guy. People can help other people without romance being involved, goddamnit! Unfortunately, Duck’s response to the accusation was… less than eloquent. Read as: his cheeks burned red from embarrassment and he sputtered a whole lot. Similar to how he lied, actually. 

 

Eyes the size of the moon, he just sort of stared,” Aubrey- you three- I- what? -Fuck- What the  _ hell _ ? I hardly fuckin’ know him -fuck- what!?”

 

The three people in front of him almost simultaneously broke into laughter. They were so weirdly in synch that Ned could well call ‘em a cerberus. That was besides the point though: they were laughing  _ at _ Duck for being rightfully embarrassed. Suddenly he realized that they had been planning on his reaction being something like this. God _ damn _ those kids. 

 

“Dani you owe me fifteen bucks.”

 

“Oh shove  _ OFF _ Jake!”

 

They’d made a bet?! On him? What the hell…

 

Their plan was as cliche as anything. Duck really wasn’t sure why he agreed, really. Doing so was… a mistake. He had no problem talking with Indrid normally, in fact they actually had a fair amount in common. As odd as that sounded, it was true. This though… god what  _ was _ this?! 

 

Duck, in present, knew that any one of them three from the Lodge could be watching him. So he couldn’t ‘back out’ or whatever. It was too cold for Indrid to be out. They were really gonna make him pull the jacket thing, huh? The most basic stereotypical romance trope of all time. So much for Duck bein’ a cold n’ steely Park Ranger, eh? He wasn’t a hero, just a guy who happened to be special. Now he wasn’t even sure if he was _ that _ anymore. Not since Minnie went and- nevermind. 

 

At last, the ranger let out a long sigh, readjusting the beanie on his head. Wasn’t fancy or nothin’, but he wanted to stay warm if the three musketeers were really gonna make him pull this shit. He needed to talk to Indrid anyways, tell ‘em that he was sorry for punching the guy in the face. Apologise for not, he didn’t know, helping more? 

 

With a hesitant stride, Duck started for the Winnebago, exhaling a breath that turned into vapor in the air. As he moved forward, it hit him in the face with a puff, and did somethin’ to knock him a bit back into reality. Not too terribly much, really, but it was something in any case. Made him feel a little bit more sane. 

 

The door swung open before he had a chance to knock. Instantly, the ranger was hit with a wave of heat. It seemed a bit less powerful than normal, though that could just be due to nerves. Duck took a breath, and he was met face to face with Indrid Cold. 

 

“Um… Hey Indrid, how are things?”

 

The twig-ish male raised his eyebrow, inquisitive,” Hello Duck. ‘Things’ have been quite alright.”

 

\-------------

 

Indrid had a pretty good idea of what was going on. Of course, he was no mind reader- however one future had been the brightest out of any of them. It split off in many different ways, yes, but the line was more or less consistent, actually. Which made sense- it seemed to be a… plan of sorts. He tuned back into reality, blinking softly as he faced Duck more directly.

 

“Well Duck, I’d just like to ask, really: what brings you here today? You haven’t visited me since before defeating the latest abomination. Furthermore, you’re here alone.”

 

The park ranger stiffened, shifting his weight in the doorframe. He seemed to be… deciding something mentally. Then something rather odd happened: the clear path of the future, well… it changed quickly as Duck held a resolute look on his face. Indrid blinked rapidly, trying to regain composure after the sudden change. 

 

“Ya’ know what? I can’t lie for shit. Oh Aubrey’s gonna have my ass later…” Duck glared at the ground for a moment, before tilting his head up slightly, eyes staring up at Indrid,” Well, Aubrey and some of ‘er friends set me up, honestly. And for whatever reason I played along? But yeah, none of that shit. Indrid I wanna like… talk to you. I dunno, just about… stuff. God knows- ugh.” 

 

Indrid paused for a moment, a contemplative hum on his lips as he tried to settle his mind into a more cohesive path. ‘Alright’ seemed to be a rather good answer if he wanted a positive outcome. 

 

“Alright,” he spoke simply, a faint smile slipping onto his thin lips,” If you’d like to talk then… do so. I have no complaints. But, ah, do close the door when you come in.”

 

In recent time, Indrid had settled on making his home less of, well, a reck. There was still plenty of clutter, but he did have a much neater area. He supposed that the reason behind that was… simple enough. Not only did it make things easier to process, but now that he had more frequent company it only seemed right. Or at least he was… hoping-

 

“Ya’ cleaned up your place? It, uh, looks nice.”

 

That. That was what he was hoping for. Not from Duck, not specifically, but the compliment. 

 

“Thank you,” Indrid spoke, a content sort of smile peaking onto his face. 

 

There was an awkward shuffling, a pause, and the fumble of Duck’s fingers before much else happened. The Sylv gestured to his couch, signalling the other male to sit. Of course, he was planning on sitting after him. He had just found that letting other people do things first… it was wise.  Duck sat, he followed. 

 

“Well, Duck. What was it you wanted to talk about?”

 

\----------

 

“Well, Duck. What was it you wanted to talk about?”

 

Fuck. A’right. Here we go. Duck didn’t want to be weird, but god what  _ did _ he want to talk about, really? Well... he  _ wanted _ to talk about a million things. Narrowing ‘em down to just one seemed to be the bigger issue. He could apologize to Indrid about fuckin’ every damn thing up with that tree abomination. Or he could talk about how… weird he felt about his destiny now. Maybe he would just talk about, well, Indrid. No, yeah, he wasn’t gonna talk about that last thing. 

 

“I…” he trailed off,” Well, I just, dunno, I wanted to say sorry about… um, fuckin’ up with that tree abomination. Damn it, I hit ya’ in the face… I feel bad bout that.”

 

Indrid blinked. He hadn’t seemed to have… expected that.

“Sorry? Duck- you are… apologising for saving my life. You were caught up in the moment, and I would not have let you take off my glasses normally. I’m… I’m sure you know that. Ah, where you tell me ‘sorry’ I’d just like to say: thank you… Thank You, Duck Newton.”

 

Now, outta all the things Indrid coulda said, that was definitely not what he thought it’d be. He’d expected the guy to lash out at him, because  _ hell _ , Indrid was all but bleedin’ out. The guy nearly died! If he did- that woulda been Duck’s fault. He- he wondered. In how many futures did he do something  _ wrong _ ? How many times was Duck not fast enough? How often did Beacon break? What was the number of times that someone he cared about could have died? He wasn’t sure he wanted to know that. 

 

“But-”

 

“There were one hundred and thirty two endings where I died. Roughly seventy where Aubrey would have, and… 23 where Ned went down. Duck, do you want to know how many paths lead to you dying, however? Over six  _ hundred _ . At least.” Of course Indrid would know what he was going to ask. 

 

“Six hundred?” The park ranger breathed, looking down at his scarred palms. 

 

“Indeed.”

 

Damn, Duck knew that he put himself into more danger than he would ever put Ned or Aubrey into; he was naturally stronger than them. But… six hundred? He could have died six hundred times saving the life of one person. For whatever reason, though, he didn’t quite… care. Duck honestly would rather dyin’ a million times over himself than letting anyone else die. In a situation with the abominations especially. 

 

“I’m… well I’m not really sure what ta’... say, now…” He muttered, sweeping a hand through some hair that had fallen over his face.

 

Indrid shrugged,” I don’t expect you too Duck. There are some paths were you simply… left after I told you. Which, frankly, would be a perfectly understandable response to such a revelation.” 

 

“I mean, it crossed my mind for a second… but…” Duck trailed off for a moment, fingers drumming gently against his thigh, which they continued to as he spoke up again.” Indrid? Well, uh, thanks… for that.”

 

And Duck saw a flash of surprise grace the other male’s features for just a moment. Which meant he had done  _ somethin’ _ right. When Indrid didn’t expect something, it felt like things were more… genuine. The guant male shook his head slightly, blinking several times behind his crimson glasses. ‘Thank you” musta’ really thrown him off guard, then. Not to mention the fact that Duck was almost sure that an embarrassed flush rose to Indrid’s pale cheeks. 

 

“Well, Duck, I… you’re very welcome…”

 

Soon enough, unfortunately, Duck had arrived back at the lodge, because he knew for a fact that returning home would be a bad idea. Within like… a minute or so- he saw the three jerks who had set him up. He wasn’t quite as angry with ‘em anymore, after deciding to just  _ talk _ to Indrid instead of following there crazy scheme. 

 

Aubrey popped up from her seat the second she was the ranger, and ran over to him. Jake and Dani casually trailed behind her, through the latter held a smirk on her face. 

 

“You punked us!” Aubrey shouted.

 

“I decided to follow a my  _ own _ plan Aubrey. Can’t lie for shit, anyway.” The male shrugged, he wasn’t just gonna let her get away with setting him up. 

 

“Whatever!”

 

“Listen you little punk,” Duck rolled his eyes as he spoke,” I’m sure you wouldn’t like it if I set you up on a date with Dani ‘er Jake, would ya’? Being genuine is easier than setting up an elaborate plan.” 

 

Aubrey paused, wringing her fingers. Duck could tell that he had won, as none of the three people in front of him said anything. Romance or not, he had learned a lot in recent time. Like: sometimes fate, destiny, and the like… worked out. You met people who would affect your life for the better. 

 

And honest? So what if he liked Indrid, so what if Indrid liked him? Things fuckin’ worked out in weird ways. His future had an ending, sure, but he could pick the route to take. 

 

… That definitely sounded like some weird Indrid shit. 

**Author's Note:**

> Found out my boyfriend was cheating on me yesterday, so romance is a little hard for me to write. Sorry if the ending seems rushed because of that.
> 
> But as always! Don't forget to leave a comment telling me what you thought! Any feedback is good feedback.


End file.
